


Left Behind

by TrishaCollins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 14:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15642309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishaCollins/pseuds/TrishaCollins
Summary: What's left behind after all we've done, the bits and pieces of a life we borrowed. Spoilers for season 7, Adam and Sam have a chat.





	Left Behind

“Sir. You wanted to see me?” The salute was crisp, sharp. No months of decay to soften the muscle memory. Adam looked the same, with perhaps only a few new lines around his eyes he didn’t remember being there before. 

Adam was holding himself stiffly, the last time they had spoken it had been…well. Adam hadn’t approved of Shiro deciding to die in space, and Adam had been determined to prevent it by whatever means. Which had included some unfortunate personal property damage. 

“At ease.” Sam said, quietly. “How are you?”

A muscle jumped in Adam’s jaw. “If that’s all, sir.”

“It isn’t. I wanted to know. I know you are angry with me, Adam. And with Shiro, still, I’m sure.”

The hurt that appeared was badly concealed, and his eyes flicked away, throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. “He made his choice, sir.”

“He’s alive.” He told the young man, blunt, pragmatic. “He was captured with me.”

Adam’s fist tightened at his side, jaw tightening. “Very well, sir.”

“He’s doing well, say that for the Galra as soon as they realized he was sick they fixed it.” He traced the decorative trim on his desk. “We wouldn’t make much for entertainment if our own bodies killed us.”

Adam closed his eyes, breathing out slowly through his nose. “What do you want? I…I buried him, Sam. Commander Holt. I stood at the top of his empty grave and I buried him.” 

“Son.”

“I’m not your son.” Adam’s voice shook for a moment. “He forgot, you know? He forgot to change any of his paperwork before he left. Typical. He was always leaving things to the last minute when it came to that. I had to execute his will. Send money to family members who couldn’t even be bothered to show up to a faggot’s funeral. A failure, that’s what they thought. Good riddance. No use for bad rubbish.” Adam locked his jaw, still looking away. “I buried him, Commander Holt. Put him and everything we had together in the ground.”

He watched the young man, the trembling conflict in the young man’s shoulder. “Adam.”

Adam cleared his nose with a shaky inhale. “So. What do you hope to gain? Admitting you were right? You weren’t. He wasn’t. We may not have had all the facts, but I know one thing is true. He left here a peaceful man. What is he now?”

“A good man.” Sam said slowly. “A just man, you knew that. He’s not so different. He’s changed, sure. We all have because of this. But he’s still Shiro.”

“Takashi.” Adam’s voice was soft, hands tightening against his side. “He never knew when to stop.”

“This hasn’t taught him that, Adam. Maybe when he gets back to earth…”

“No.” Adam’s voice was soft. “No. I loved him, Sam. I loved him more than you could imagine. We talked about kids, we talked about venues. I was going to buy a ring.” The confessions were soft, every one of them seeming to carve some part of him out, until every piece of the young pilot in front of him was laid out in the air between them. “He wanted a little girl named Himawari. We talked about getting a dog. We were looking at houses off base.” The softness faded into something sharp and pained. “Then you came along with the mission. Your mission. The one that nobody else could fly for you. The one you knew he shouldn’t go on.” 

He grimaced. “I wouldn’t take it back.”

“I know. And neither would he. Because it was the right thing, it gave us a warning. No matter what hell he had to go through to get it.” Adam exhaled. “Goodbye, Sam.” He snapped off another quick crisp salute and left the room without another word.


End file.
